Basketball PSU Hoops blows 11-point lead in home loss to Michigan

[mralph59]

Penn State was on fire out of the gates Tuesday night, but a collapse late in the first half carried over into an ice-cold second half for the Nittany Lions. Outside of a (mostly) meaningless buzzer-beating 3 from Myles Dread, the Nittany Lions made just one field goal over the last five minutes of the game. Hunter Dickinson has a monstrous stat line at 19 points and 15 rebounds (8 offensive). Full game recap here, including quotes from Micah Shrewsberry and Sam Sessoms:

NOTE: Shrewsberry said he's "not sure" if Penn State will have Greg Lee back this season after he showed up with a walking boot today. Said it's probably too early to tell, as the injury just happened.

Happy Valley Insider - Penn State men's basketball blows 11-point lead in home loss to Michigan

Penn State jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first half before going cold for the rest of the game to lose.

pennstate.rivals.com

 

[bcspsu]

Penn State was on fire out of the gates Tuesday night, but a collapse late in the first half carried over into an ice-cold second half for the Nittany Lions. Outside of a (mostly) meaningless buzzer-beating 3 from Myles Dread, the Nittany Lions made just one field goal over the last five minutes of the game. Hunter Dickinson has a monstrous stat line at 19 points and 15 rebounds (8 offensive). Full game recap here, including quotes from Micah Shrewsberry and Sam Sessoms:

NOTE: Shrewsberry said he's "not sure" if Penn State will have Greg Lee back this season after he showed up with a walking boot today. Said it's probably too early to tell, as the injury just happened.

Happy Valley Insider - Penn State men's basketball blows 11-point lead in home loss to Michigan

Penn State jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first half before going cold for the rest of the game to lose.

pennstate.rivals.com

Nothing changes with this program regardless of new coaches, players, etc. Five years from now, you basically will be able to repeat this game's story line for most of their games. Michigan is garbage this season, and PSU still can't beat them at home. This program is a total waste of money.

 

[Marylovesthelions]

Despite the record and this particular loss, I am overjoyed at the prospects of Penn State basketball. When you look at what they lost in a portal and who was coming back, this coach has achieved far beyond what we would have expected in making them competitive. His new class shows his recruiting prowess. For the 1st time on my 59 years of being Lion, I'm really enthusiastic about Penn State basketball.
We had a decent team with Carver Clinton and Ray Saunders, but after that, it has been mostly frustration. We are!

 

[Marylovesthelions]

PS, I knew Ray Saunders.. He was 1 of 2 people I knew well in my 4 years at Penn State that I had never heard use profanity. He later became a minister. Sadly, he died about 5-10 years ago.

 

[Texas Lion]

Doesn't matter who coaches Penn State, it really doesn't. No mater who is in charge the team seems to disappear for long stretches at a time on offense and it always ends up their demise. Michigan had no answer for Sessoms in the first half and what do we do???? Bring in subs and sit him on the bench.

 

[Richie O]

 

[wolve1972]

Nothing changes with this program regardless of new coaches, players, etc. Five years from now, you basically will be able to repeat this game's story line for most of their games. Michigan is garbage this season, and PSU still can't beat them at home. This program is a total waste of money.

One of the biggest mysteries in the B1G with me. PSU consistently fields very good / excellent teams in almost every other sport - both men and women. But basketball ? - especially when the East coast has a ton of excellent HS basketball talent.

 

[Media Fan]

Nothing changes with this program regardless of new coaches, players, etc. Five years from now, you basically will be able to repeat this game's story line for most of their games. Michigan is garbage this season, and PSU still can't beat them at home. This program is a total waste of money.

These players don’t have that talent to consistently execute at this level imo.
Next year, with the five recruits, most of which are higher quality, we may have a better chance.
Although, can’t help to share the frustration. When.

 

[bkmtnittany1]

Penn State has horses...unfortunately we have Clydesdales when you need race horses..

 

[kgilbert78]

One of the biggest mysteries in the B1G with me. PSU consistently fields very good / excellent teams in almost every other sport - both men and women. But basketball ? - especially when the East coast has a ton of excellent HS basketball talent.

City kids don't want to play at a rural school--especially when there are plenty of city school to play at closer to home. That's most of it.

 

[ryoder1]

I still say we should make the Dance in Shrewsberry year 3. I am hoping next year. If not by year 3 then, well, probably need to find a new coach. We don't know how to close games out. We are certainly competitive on most nights. Offense is anemic. Hopefully the recruiting success Shrews has had will translate into more Ws next season.

 

[Media Fan]

Nothing changes with this program regardless of new coaches, players, etc. Five years from now, you basically will be able to repeat this game's story line for most of their games. Michigan is garbage this season, and PSU still can't beat them at home. This program is a total waste of money.

I disagree with this. Imo, our defensive effort is much better than it had been.
We have a bunch of very streaky shooters- that tends to lead to volatile results.

 

[bdgan]

City kids don't want to play at a rural school--especially when there are plenty of city school to play at closer to home. That's most of it.

I agree but Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, etc. aren't that close to major cities. And why doesn't Rutgers do better? They're close to Phila & NY.

 

[bison13]

I agree but Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, etc. aren't that close to major cities. And why doesn't Rutgers do better? They're close to Phila & NY.

All of those three schools have some history but also ever look at the complexion of their roster? I will agree with you about Rutgers but I think most of it is from the prior coaching staffs not having good relationships with the private schools in Jersey or Philly.

 

[kgilbert78]

I agree but Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, etc. aren't that close to major cities. And why doesn't Rutgers do better? They're close to Phila & NY.

Rutgers did--in the past. So there, it may be something else. In the three schools you note, Purdue is in Indiana--that's an exception as it is one basketball-crazy state. You see hoops in every driveway, even in neighborhoods with very expensive homes. Wisconsin is a lot closer to a major city than PSU. Iowa is as the poster above notes.

 

[lowhandicapper]

What happened last night at Minnesota in the final minute down one score was just awful. It was some of the least aware and clutch play you could ever see.

3 of last 4 possessions in the final minute looked like this....
1. Lundy dribbles out of bounds on the baseline.
2. Harrar travels in the paint on the entry pass.
3. Sessoms travels in the paint on a drive to the hoop.

I'm sorry but travelling and dribbling out of bounds in those situations is just very poor playing by players. It is a complete lack of awareness and situational panic. There is no one to blame but themselves. You gotta stay cool and focused down the stretch.

 

[bison13]

What happened last night at Minnesota in the final minute down one score was just awful. It was some of the least aware and clutch play you could ever see.

3 of last 4 possessions in the final minute looked like this....
1. Lundy dribbles out of bounds on the baseline.
2. Harrar travels in the paint on the entry pass.
3. Sessoms travels in the paint on a drive to the hoop.

I'm sorry but travelling and dribbling out of bounds in those situations is just very poor playing by players. It is a complete lack of awareness and situational panic. There is no one to blame but themselves. You gotta stay cool and focused down the stretch.

Agree though do think that both lundy and harrars were forced by defensive contact and should have been fouls. I'm willing to bet that is those two things happened to msu that fouls are called

 

[87 Penn St8]

And prior to being down 2 we were tied and had a shot to go ahead- which resulted in a long rebound in the vicinity of the foul line. Lundy went over the back on a play he didn't have a prayer to make to give the Gophers a 1 and 1 (which they converted).

We played pretty well up to that point. Post game Micah explained the defensive strategy which allowed Curry to go off. Even then he pointed out that it took him 19 shots to get 22 points. Harrar and Sam played with heart and were productive. Seth had a nice game too...but in my opinion it was his mistakes that put us behind the 8 ball leading to the loss.

Earlier in the game Scott missed a bunny lay up and the commentator said that to win a road game you need to convert an open lay up..." Penn State will wish they had those 2 points late in the game." So it is a team loss...White had a bad sequence where he had a miss and a turnover leading to fast break points. Thirteen turnovers...allowing a career high to a role player....simply put: we didn't deserve to win...and they did. Wash, rinse, repeat.

 

[bdgan]

Bottom line is PSU had a 2 pt lead with 3.5 minutes remaining. PSU didn't score another FG until a meaningless dunk by Lundy with 9 seconds remaining. Most of that time Harrar was on the bench for some reason.

PSU has now lost 3 straight by an average of 3 pts. Close games like that ought to be 50/50 but somehow we lose most of them.

It's painful to be a PSU basketball fan.

 

[Yanks49]

Bottom line is PSU had a 2 pt lead with 3.5 minutes remaining. PSU didn't score another FG until a meaningless dunk by Lundy with 9 seconds remaining. Most of that time Harrar was on the bench for some reason.

PSU has now lost 3 straight by an average of 3 pts. Close games like that ought to be 50/50 but somehow we lose most of them.

It's painful to be a PSU basketball fan.

They picked a bad night to have a mediocre defensive effort, but some of that came from psu turnovers (Minn 26 points off those 13 turnovers. Last several games were lost by offense, last night was bad defense.

 

[bdgan]

They picked a bad night to have a mediocre defensive effort, but some of that came from psu turnovers (Minn 26 points off those 13 turnovers. Last several games were lost by offense, last night was bad defense.

I agree about the defense. Minny took advantage of D. Johnson. Picket didn't get through the screens. It was just lazy at times.

I understand the strategy of trying to Make Curry beat you but once he started "feeling it" you've got to adjust and get a hand in his face.

I think several of the turnovers occurred because PSU was trying to force the pace, something they're not good at doing. It just got sloppy.

I don't understand not getting Harrar back in the game at the 4 minute mark.

 

[bison13]

I agree about the defense. Minny took advantage of D. Johnson. Picket didn't get through the screens. It was just lazy at times.

I understand the strategy of trying to Make Curry beat you but once he started "feeling it" you've got to adjust and get a hand in his face.

I think several of the turnovers occurred because PSU was trying to force the pace, something they're not good at doing. It just got sloppy.

I don't understand not getting Harrar back in the game at the 4 minute mark.

Agree, especially about harrar not getting back in the game. My assumption is that he was out for the couple minutes before that where sessoms was routinely getting to the basket or able to kick out to dread for shots so they had good offensive flow. But once they got under the four-minute Mark and missed a few shots he should have been back in for the rebounding help because at that point they were one-and-done Plus got in trouble giving up boards on the defensive end.

 

[lowhandicapper]

I agree but Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, etc. aren't that close to major cities. And why doesn't Rutgers do better? They're close to Phila & NY.

But those bustling Metropolises of Lexington, Kentucky, Spokane, Washington and Lawrence, Kansas.

There are few judgmental biases deeper than the old excuse of location for basketball, specifically when you are one of the only major D1 universities within a 4 hour drive of Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC.....or in other words, that close to roughly 15% of the entire population of the United States of America. Hahahaha.